North Korea withdraws invitation for Ban Ki-moon visit
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says North Korea has cancelled an invitation for him to visit an inter-Korean factory park located north of the two Koreas’ border.
“Early this morning, the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea informed us, through their diplomatic channels, that they were reversing their decision for me to visit the Kaesong industrial complex,” Ban told a forum in the South Korean capital city of Seoul on Wednesday.
Describing Pyongyang’s decision as “deeply regrettable,” the UN chief said that North Koreans provided no explanation for the “last-minute change.”
Ban had previously announced plans to visit the Kaesong industrial compound on May 21 to help improve relations between Pyongyang and Seoul. The two countries jointly run the complex, which accounts for nearly all of trade between the two Koreas.
The cancellation came just one day before Ban was due to arrive. He would have been the first UN secretary general to visit the factory park, which opened in 2004.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN secretary general said he would spare no effort to encourage North Korea to contribute toward stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
Over the past few months, the land and sea borders between the two countries have seen a number of skirmishes involving exchanges of fire, but with no reported casualties.
The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of military rhetoric since the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. No peace deal has been signed since then, meaning that Pyongyang and Seoul remain technically at war.
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